Bacteria love living in reusable grocery bags. Politicians ignore the health risks. More intestinal flu. More hospitalizations. And more deaths. The health of the environment supersedes their citizens. So does increased fees without voter approval.

That is the trade off when banning the plastic, one-time use, throwaway grocery bags with reusable ones. New plastic bags contain no bacteria.

When San Francisco banned the disposable grocery plastic bag, health officials discovered an increase of six deaths and a 25 per cent spike in emergency room admissions caused by food bacteria. The ban has now expanded to the entire state of California.

"Washing bags with bleach has almost no effect on cleaning bacteria found in reusable shopping bags", according to Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, in England.

Dr. Ryan Sinclair, and environmental microbiologist and researcher at Loma Linda University of Public Health, found that nearly all reusable grocery bags carry bacteria in them. And ten per cent of them contained E Coli, a fecal bacteria that make people sick.

"Our policymakers should be prepared to address the ramifications for public health," said Ryan Sinclair, a professor at Loma Linda University's School of Public Health.

Sinclair's report on bacteria in reusable grocery bags stated, "A sudden or significant increase in use of reusable bags without a major public education campaign on how to reduce cross contamination would create the risk of significant adverse public health impact."

Even if cleaning reusable grocery bags worked, what about the environmental costs of using more water, energy, and soap to wash them? Also, using disposable anti-viral wipes creates more plastic garbage.